I'm an American living in the Netherlands who is learning Dutch. There's an idiom in Dutch that describes performing a needless/futile activity, "water naar de zee dragen," which literally translates to "carrying water to the sea." My Dutch parents-in-law asked me if there was an English equivalent, but I couldn't think of one.

In doing somesearchesonline, I found that the English translation given for the this idiom is always "carrying coals to Newcastle." This was the first time I'd ever come across the phrase, and subsequent searches revealed that it was indeed of Britishorigin, though one site I found did claim that it was an American phrase. However, neither I nor any of my culturally American friends have ever heard of this phrase.

Is there an American English idiom or phrase that carries the same connotations for carrying out a futile activity?

I’m American, and I’ve been familiar with it as long as I can remember. I no longer remember whether I acquired it from my parents, who were from the Pacific Northwest, or from reading, but I was familiar with it at least by the time I was 12. Despite its obvious British origin, I’ve never thought of it as a non-American idiom, or as being more likely to require explanation than any other standard idiom or cultural reference.
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Brian M. ScottAug 15 '11 at 16:43

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@JPmiaou I'm from New England and I have never heard it before.
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Kit Z. Fox♦Aug 15 '11 at 16:46

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Strange. The Dutch are pumping water into the sea all the time, lest much of the Netherlands would become flooded. That's what all the windmills were for.
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starblueAug 15 '11 at 18:27

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@starblue: Yes, but if we had to carry it ourselves, there'd be little time left for making wooden shoes.
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CerberusAug 16 '11 at 8:58

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@Brian: Sorry, I was unclear. Absolutely the idiom is from Newcastle-on-Tyne. I meant that someone who was familiar with a town named Newcastle that was known for coal mining, that was named after another town called Newcastle that was known for coal mining seems more likely to also know the meaning of "bringing coals to Newcastle" than the average randomly-chosen human. People who lived in the Pacific Northwest are much more likely to know about Newcastle WA than people who did not.
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Eric LippertAug 16 '11 at 19:40

@Jay: While it's true this activity often serves an important purpose, so does bringing water to the sea in the Netherlands (as noted by @starblue). At least this phrase is parallel in imagery and implication to water/sea and coals/Newcastle. (Bringing more stuff to a place that already has lots of it.) This should be higher up than those answers that really don't correspond to the Dutch or British versions.
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John YAug 15 '11 at 21:45

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Sand and Sahara also are a nice alliteration.
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starblueAug 16 '11 at 8:13

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I’ve not heard this one. It’s self-explanatory, but I certainly wouldn’t point to it as a specifically American equivalent of coals to Newcastle.
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Brian M. ScottAug 16 '11 at 19:16

+1 Was typing up an Eskimo answer when I got the note about your added answer. The problem is that this relates more to trying (or being able to) sell things that should be unsellable. The latter phrase I think is more about someone being sort of pleasantly malicious. Preaching to the choir is good, but limited to talking.
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T.E.D.Aug 15 '11 at 14:52

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I agree with T.E.D.'s statements that most of these have a specific implication. "Locking the stable door after the horse has bolted" implies that an action was taken too late rather than being pointless in its entirety.
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FallenAngelEyesAug 15 '11 at 15:03

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I think that "Preaching to the choir" fits the intended meaning the best, as it implies you're spending your effort talking to the one group that doesn't need to hear what you're saying.
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JSBձոգչAug 15 '11 at 15:06

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-1 The selling Ice to an Eskimo is generally used to imply incredible sales skills rather than a pointless task. None of these really embody the English Idiom. Even the final is more about giving someone something they dont need when they have a need. This implies doing something that has no need or effect.
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ChadAug 15 '11 at 17:06

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@Chad -- I have heard it both ways -- "You may as well try selling ice to an Eskimo.", or "He could sell ice to an Eskimo.".
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Jay ElstonAug 15 '11 at 17:46

A Chinese fire drill (a large, ineffective, and chaotic activity carried out by a group of people that accomplishes nothing—but note that, as the Wikipedia article points out, this phrase is uncommon today due to the politically incorrect ethnic reference.)

"Deck chairs on the Titanic" was going to be my answer. It's an ultimately pointless activity, but the inference (that it's all going down in flames) is a little different as you said.
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KeithSAug 15 '11 at 15:42

I found that phrase as well, but like you, I'd never heard it before and wouldn't have immediately understood the implication.
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FallenAngelEyesAug 15 '11 at 15:23

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"Owls to Athens" may be related to the goddess Athena, who was associated with an owl.
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Jay ElstonAug 15 '11 at 16:33

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In German this is well known ("Eulen nach Athen tragen").
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starblueAug 15 '11 at 18:23

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What a marvellous phrase. But only classical scholars would understand it (which doesn't of course restrict who uses it).
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TimLymingtonAug 15 '11 at 20:14

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This expression also exists in Dutch (uilen naar Athene dragen), though it is less common. From Wikipedia: In poetry from Homer, an oral tradition of the eighth or 7th century BC, onward, Athena's most common epithet is glaukopis (γλαυκώπις), which usually is translated as, bright-eyed or with gleaming eyes.[38] The word is a combination of glaukos (γλαύκος, meaning gleaming, silvery, and later, bluish-green or gray) and ops (ώψ, eye, or sometimes, face). ...
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CerberusAug 16 '11 at 9:08

I think this gets closer to "Bringing coals to Newcastle" than many of the others posted. I used to love this expression (mostly for the visual image it conjures up), I can't believe I'd forgotten it!
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FrustratedWithFormsDesignerAug 15 '11 at 17:03

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IMHO this is different. It is easy but pointless to bring coals to Newcastle, while it is impossible to nail Jello to a tree.
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starblueAug 15 '11 at 18:33

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To me this evokes immense frustration. I vaguely remember it in the context of trying to get evasive people (bureaucrats?) to make a firm statement or commit to a course of action. I think I may have seen it in a Heinlein novel, and it may have been "jelly" before it was "Jello".
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BetaAug 15 '11 at 19:16

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I think the meaning of this one is closer to "herding cats": not only futile, but also nearly impossible.
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JPmiaouAug 16 '11 at 3:05

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It is actually possible to nail a Jello to a tree - I've seen it done (although I'll admit it's pretty pointless!).
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MikeJ-UKAug 16 '11 at 11:33

I've heard "Watering the garden (or lawn) in the rain". The meaning would probably be very clear to most people but I strongly suspect it's not in common usage (except to the few people I know that use it often).

"Tilting at Windmills" has a connotation of needless/futile. Although admittedly also with a connotation towards fighting unwinnable battles.

Sisyphean comes to mind as an adjective. This could be extrapolated as "pushing a stone uphill" but it tends to only be properly understood among more academic types, due to its roots being in Greek Mythology.

"Pushing rope" or "pushing a rope uphill" would be the closest thing I can think of that I've actually heard in conversation.

+1 for Tilting at windmills, but it doesn't really fit the question fully. You can succeed at bringing coal to Newcastle but you can never succeed at tilting at windmills.
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Mr. Shiny and New 安宇Aug 16 '11 at 11:57

@Mr. Shiny and New The idea is that bringing coal to Newcastle is redundant, an example of something unnecessary. The question asks for an example of futility specifically. I thought Sisyphean was a GREAT answer. Same with "tilting at windmills". Both express utter futility of effort. Only problem is that they are not at all American expressions. But otherwise, best answer yet IMHO.
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Ellie KesselmanAug 16 '11 at 22:32

There's also "salting the sea" (the sea is already salty, and it's too vast to really affect the saltiness). It can also be used as a euphemism for relieving oneself into the ocean.
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Phil PerryJun 24 '14 at 17:35

+1 because it is probably the most commonly-used American phrase that means (mostly) the same thing. There is a tiny bit of a connotation difference, in that "spinning your wheels" can sometimes imply that you are doing a useful activity incorrectly in some way.
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BradCAug 16 '11 at 14:47

"Beating a dead horse" has more of the connotation of doing something long after it's useless though, implying that at one time, there was still a point to doing it. Both "water naar de zee dragen" and "carrying coals to Newcastle" are already outright pointless.
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FallenAngelEyesAug 15 '11 at 14:25

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@FallenAngelEyes: I agree it's not quite what you're after, but at least beating a dead horse is pointless and futile. This is more than I can say about several of the other offerings here.
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John YAug 15 '11 at 21:58

While that is a very fun phrase, it's usually referred to imply the difficulty of a given activity rather than its fruitlessness. Neither carrying water to the sea nor coals to Newcastle are necessarily difficult, but they are both futile activities.
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FallenAngelEyesAug 15 '11 at 15:10

I disagree. Herding cats is an utterly pointless exercise precisely because it is impossible.
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Kit Z. Fox♦Aug 15 '11 at 15:14

This is a good one, but it's IMO pretty specialized towards organizational tasks, especially organizing other people.
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KeithSAug 15 '11 at 15:20

@KitΘδς, that's FallenAngelEyes's point: herding cats is difficult and therefore arguably pointless, whereas carrying water to the sea is pointless even though there's little or no challenge in it.
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KevinAug 15 '11 at 15:36

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@KitΘδς: There are exceptional cases (such as in a vet's office) where herding cats may not be pointless, but it is still very difficult (not completely impossible because I've seen it done).
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FrustratedWithFormsDesignerAug 15 '11 at 16:07

The suggestions in the other answers are, by and large, phrases with different meanings.
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AlgerAug 15 '11 at 16:31

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I agree with the author of the post... I have never heard of it... If it is an American thing, it's regional at best.
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RikonAug 15 '11 at 17:13

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@Rikon: I don’t think that it’s particularly regional at all; I’ve lived on both coasts and in the Midwest, and I’ve encountered it everywhere. I suspect, though, that it’s often acquired from reading rather than from surrounding speakers, so it may be somewhat sociolectal.
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Brian M. ScottAug 21 '11 at 3:35

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@Rikon: No, certainly not slang. To be honest, I’ve always thought of it as something that any reasonably widely-read person would have encountered, more nearly comparable to a common literary reference than to a slang expression.
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Brian M. ScottAug 22 '11 at 1:27

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I've been through both University and Grad-school in the US, lived all over the South, and in much of the south- and mid-west and I've never heard it, nor read it.
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Kyle PearsonAug 28 '11 at 5:04

I once attended a technical presentation near Tektronix headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. The presenter was from the UK, and for some odd turn of events, his company had actually moved some coal towards Newcastle once.

The best part was that after having made the reference, later in his presentation he talked about designing some high-speed oscilloscopes. One of the first clients? Tektronix. (The irony here being that Tek was the world leader in scopes for many decades.)

Programmers tend to use the expressions "yak shaving" and "bikeshedding". These expressions tend to be used in reference to losing view of the big picture and spending inordinate amounts of time on incredibly trivial things.

Another option is "gilding the lily", although it carries a connotation of an activity which occurs after a task should already have been completed, or has already been satisfactorily addressed by other means.

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue unto the rainbow, or with taper-light to seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, is wasteful and ridiculous excess.
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Jon PurdyAug 15 '11 at 20:54

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The irony of using a term from Shakespeare as an American English equivalent to a British expression is not lost on me.
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ZootAug 15 '11 at 21:01

This really doesn't answer the question at all. None of the three expressions are uniquely American, nor are they specifically about futility.
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Ellie KesselmanAug 16 '11 at 22:10

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From the wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bikeshedding) bikeshedding: Futile investment of time and energy in marginal technical issues, often including annoying propaganda. --These terms are admittedly specific, but all of the activities are somewhat futile.
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ZootAug 17 '11 at 1:54

How about, "Sisyphean as carrying out a futile task repeatedly like Sysiphus, a Greek mythological figure that was doomed to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill in Hades as a punishment for defying the gods" ?
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James PoulsonAug 15 '11 at 23:36

Actually, I DO think this answers the question rather well. Only problem is that it is identical to this answer english.stackexchange.com/questions/37997/… which was posted 2 minutes earlier than @Art posted his answer. That's very close, both could have been entered at the same time really.
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Ellie KesselmanAug 16 '11 at 22:46

Sisyphus didn't merely "endlessly roll a boulder up a hill". His punishment was to bring a boulder to the top of the hill. But every time Sisyphus was almost there, at the tip of the hill, the boulder would roll back downhill and Sisyphus would have to start over. In effect, it was a punishment of an endless futile work.
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wilhelmtellAug 17 '11 at 1:18

"Go find you a white crayon and color a fucking zebra" - This lyric from Eminem's song "My Mom" (off of his Rehab album), represents the ultimate in futile efforts: coloring a black and white coloring book white.

Welcome to EL&U. But do you really think there's much chance people here will upvote this particular line from Eminem as an American English equivalent of the British idiom "carrying coals to Newcastle"?
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FumbleFingersAug 17 '11 at 2:29

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It's not really that it doesn't take my fancy, just that it probably won't get any upvotes and may well attract downvotes. Different standards apply to comments here though. You might even have got upvotes if you'd posted this as a comment, because it is quite a colourful (pardon the pun!) image. Whatever - I hope I'll have just cause to upvote one of your answers soon! :)
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FumbleFingersAug 23 '11 at 15:05

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Everyone has their own attitude in such matters, but collectively the EL&U community is (more or less) agreed that "Answers" should be attempts to answer the question. If you're just sharing related information in a way that doesn't fit that constraint, it should be posted as comments. Even if you don't care about gaining reputation points as such, you should at least recognise that they reflect what other people think of your contributions. A wise man tempers his words according to his audience.
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FumbleFingersAug 23 '11 at 16:11

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The poster was looking for an example in American English that he could present to his Dutch friend. Chances are he's heard of Eminem, perhaps the very song I've quoted. Something they're potentially familiar with would be an excellent example. This is my attempt at answering the question - how does it fail to do so? Also, thank you for letting me know what a wise man would do. I was hoping someone would jump in, comment with passive aggression, and lecture me about wisdom.
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Ken GregoryAug 23 '11 at 17:18

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My answer provided interpretation and asked nothing of any person. I offered it as an alternative to other suggestions. I'm sorry if you disagree.
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Ken GregoryAug 23 '11 at 18:35

How about "an exercise in futility?" It's not as picturesque of an idiom but it's certainly spot on in expressing "pointlessness" as opposed to "unimportance", "difficulty", or "tediousness" like some of the other answers.

It depends on the context you are using; if you are talking spare time, it might be “watching the tube,” and referring to finances, it might be “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. In the United States, we have so many idioms used each day, that we have new ones we hear all the time. I like to call it writer's or speaker's license. I think that is why people from other countries have problems at times understanding us, because they take us literally, instead of figuratively. An example would be to “kick the bucket”.

"Carrying coals to Newcastle" is futile and unnecessary because it is completely the wrong way around. It refers to doing something in the opposite way that it should be done, or in a manner contrary to logic.

Many of the answers given here have involved futile tasks, that are either impossible to complete, or will be immediately undone. They're missing the point of the original question. I wouldn't call carrying coals to Newcastle exactly a futile task. It's certainly easily possible to do, but the point is that it's completely unnecessary and pointless, and therefore a waste of effort.

Phrases such as teaching your grandmother to suck eggs (unnecessary, she already knew how to do that) and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (a pointless task, as they'll be in the drink soon enough) are my favorites among all those mentioned, but may not be of American origin.